Conventional aircraft include forward transparent windows in a flight deck located at the front of the aircraft. The forward windows permit a pilot to view the surroundings in which the aircraft is located to assist with taxi and flight operations. These forward windows, however, are typically large and heavy on conventional aircraft. The size of the forward windows is determined by regulatory field of view requirements. Because forward windows are heavy relative to their size, it is desirable to reduce their size or to eliminate forward facing windows altogether and supplement or replace the visual imagery that they provide with images from vision systems.
Conventional vision systems are disposed in a fixed position outside of an outer mold line of the aircraft. Such protrusions increase drag and reduce performance of the conventional aircraft.
While these conventional aircraft are suitable for their intended purposes, it is desirable to provide aircraft and systems that permit reduction of forward window size, reduction of weight, and/or reduced drag compared to conventional aircraft. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.